It would be easy enough, 10 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and more than four months after the killing of Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALs, to assume that the war against terrorism is over.

It isn’t. Not even close.

Followers of bin Laden, the murderous fanatic who masterminded the slaughter of nearly 3,000 people in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, still hate the United States with every fiber of their being, and so do countless terrorists and would-be terrorists who are not members of bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization but find inspiration in its relentless quest to harm America and our friends around the world.

If they could, these enemies would destroy us. Short of that, they will inflict as much death and damage as they can in as many ways as they can imagine.

If we needed a reminder of the threat we face — and we shouldn’t, considering our still-vivid memories of 9/11 — we received a jolting wake-up call in the days and hours leading up to today’s anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

On Thursday night, at approximately the same time President Obama was asking Congress to pass legislation designed to boost the nation’s economy, news broke of a “credible” threat of a terror attack — specifically, a car bomb that would be set off in either New York or Washington.

The report was unconfirmed — and still was, as this was written on Friday — but it made sense that such a plot would exist. Documents found at bin Laden’s compound after he was killed in Pakistan indicated that he was preoccupied with the idea of attacking the U.S. on the anniversary of 9/11, and officials predicted at the time that bin Laden’s followers might try to avenge his death with a terrorist attack.

The federal government and law enforcement officials around the country responded to the threat by increasing security and urging the public to be alert. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on New Yorkers and all Americans “to be the eyes and the ears of vigilance.”

The 9/11 anniversary provides a high-profile framework for such a plot but the truth is, al-Qaida or some “lone wolf” terrorist operating on his own could be planning an attack at any time in any place — a shopping mall, a sports stadium, an office building …

A recent report by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Preparedness Group made the point that our country is safer today than it was before the 9/11 attacks — but not nearly safe enough. The group reviewed a series of recommendations by the 9/11 Commission — which studied the attacks and the events leading up to them — and found that several critical suggestions have been ignored or not fully implemented.

A decade after those devastating attacks, the very least Congress and the government’s executive branch should do is give careful consideration to every one of the 9/11 Commission’s suggestions for avoiding such attacks in the future.

For most Americans, the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, is seared into our souls forever. But inevitably, as time passes, the country’s collective memory will dim. Our sense of indignation will recede. We will always remember the disaster but we might be inclined to forget the act of war that caused it.

Such national amnesia could diminish our resolve and embolden our enemies.

As we pause today to honor those who died 10 years ago, we should renew our commitment to fighting for our survival against those who threaten us, at whatever cost that commitment requires.

We must remain vigilant. We owe it to the victims and the heroes of 9/11. We owe it to ourselves, and to the future of the greatest country on Earth.

A recent report by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Security Preparedness Group made the point that our country is safer today than it was before the 9/11 attacks — but not nearly safe enough.